Al Gore

"We need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue; it's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act. That's a renewable resource. Let's renew it." - Al Gore

Al Gore served as the 45th Vice President of the United States, under Bill Clinton. He ran for President against George W. Bush in 2000, and although he failed to win that office, he received more of the popular vote than his opponent did. Al Gore is also an award-winning author, an early champion of the internet, and an environmental activist who appeared in the 2006 Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

MAGNETISM

Since he left politics in 2001, Al Gore's image has undergone a major makeover, and we're not talking about the extra weight. Throughout his tenure as Vice President, he was Bill Clinton's kind of dull, nerdy, information technology-savvy sidekick. After appearing in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's coolness factor rose significantly, and he's attracted a following of young fans, including a legion of college-aged female admirers. His appearances on Saturday Night Live have added to his post-White House rock star-like status, but as far as we know, he hasn't put the moves on or succumbed to possible advances from any of his young groupies the way his former boss in Washington did. Al and Tipper Gore met in 1965 and remain happily devoted to one another more than four decades on.

SUCCESS

Al Gore had a highly successful career in U.S. politics before gaining renown as an environmentalist. He was elected to Congress at the age of 28, serving eight years in the House of Representatives, and eight years in the Senate. In 1993, he was inaugurated as Vice President, a post he also held for eight years. Despite not succeeding to the Presidency, he won the popular vote by approximately 500,000 votes in the much disputed 2000 election. Al Gore has received a number of awards, perhaps none more prestigious than the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He has also earned an Emmy, the Berkeley Medal, and the Prince of Asturias Award. In 2005, he was honored with a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the development of the internet, while in 2009 he added a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album to his list of prizes for his bestselling book, An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Al Gore is also a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc., and a senior advisor to Google.

Al Gore Biography

Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was born on March 31, 1948, in Washington, D.C., and raised in the U.S. capitol as well as on the family farm in Carthage, Tennessee. His father, Albert Gore, Sr., served as a U.S. Representative and Senator, while his mother Pauline LaFon Gore was one of the first women to graduate from Vanderbilt Law School. He met Mary Elizabeth (AKA Tipper) Aitcheson, whom he would marry in 1970, at his senior prom in 1965, and entered Harvard that same year. It was there that he first became interested in environmentalism while taking a course on climate science.

al gore serves in vietnam

Al Gore eventually changed his major from English to government, and graduated cum laude in 1969. Although both he and his father were opposed to the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in August of that year. His low draft number meant he'd likely be called up sooner than later, and he didn't feel right about having someone less privileged than himself go in his place while he took advantage of ways to defer his military service. In January 1971, he arrived in Bien Hoa, where he wrote for The Castle Courier, and was honorably discharged that May.

Upon his return to the States, Al Gore attended Vanderbilt Divinity School for a year, and became an investigative reporter for The Tennessean. In 1974, he entered Vanderbilt Law School, but dropped out in 1976 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. He won a seat in Congress, where he would serve over the next 16 years. In 1984, he was elected to the Senate, where he would serve until 1993. During his tenure in Congress, he held the first congressional hearings on climate change, and also co-sponsored hearings on global warming.

vice president al gore

In 1988, Al Gore ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for President, finishing third. Four years later, he was selected as Bill Clinton's running mate for the 1992 Presidential elections. The Democrats won, which made them the youngest team ever elected to the White House. Al Gore was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President in January 1993, and became Bill Clinton's "indisputable chief adviser." The Clinton-Gore ticket were elected again in 1996, and Al Gore's push for the development of information technology helped spur the dot-com boom of the late '90s.

al gore is elected president, almost

Al Gore secured the Democratic Party nomination for President in 2000, and campaigned against Republican candidate George W. Bush. The opponents ran neck and neck in the polls leading up to the election, and although Al Gore won the popular vote by about half a million ballots, he conceded the election to Bush when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively awarded Florida's 25 electoral votes to his rival. Following the 2000 election, Al Gore dropped out of politics to concentrate on environmental activism.

In 2006, Al Gore founded The Alliance for Climate Protection, and also starred in the award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2008, Al Gore came out in support of Barack Obama, leading some to speculate that he might return to politics as either the Vice-Presidential candidate, or a future member of Obama's administration. In the end though, it was only speculation, as Al Gore remains focused on climate change and further developing the information superhighway, at least for the moment.